20G COMPENDIUM OF THE. VETERINARY ART. 



as short as possible. The shoes which are 

 apphed should be made sufficiently thick and 

 long at the heel to make up for the deficiency 

 of horn in that part, in order to relieve the 

 ^lioranients and back sinews ; and with the same 

 view the toe should be made rather thin, and 

 of the best steel. 



There is another kind of deformity some- 

 times observable in the foot, that is, the hoof 

 loses that oblique form represented in Plate 3, 

 Fig. i, and approaches towards the perpendi- 

 cular (f ig. 3) : at the same time the heels be- 

 come very high. In this case it is necessary 

 to reduce tne ciust at the heels, and apply 

 the thin heeled shoe. 



Sand Cracks 



Are longitudinal fissures in the hoof, gene- 

 rally near the heels, beginning at the coronet. 

 Horses, whose hoofs have become dry and 

 brittle, are most subject to them. They 

 generally occur in the liot and dry months of 

 summer, and seem to be occasioned by a 

 strong disposition in the hoof to contract, at a 

 time when it is dry and inhexible. They do 

 not always cause lameness, and are sometimt3 



